Painting at the Rhododendron Gardens

It's been such a rainy and busy Spring that the Art Buddies have had a hard time getting together and painting.  It seems that members of our group have been busy traveling, moving, working, or dealing with health issues, so our time together has been pretty hit and miss.  Sometimes impromptu works, so when it looked like we had a clear day, Joanie and I were able to grab our art supplies and head out to the Portland Rhododendron Gardens.

It was pretty crowded, but the flowers were beautiful, and we saw lots of lovely spots to paint from.

Due to the wet spring we've had, the Roddies were about a month behind, so the season will extend well past normal. There's so many things to paint, buildings, ducks, a bridge and foliage, that we know we have to come back in the fall.  The gardens were really lovely, and I tried to capture as many angles as I could for painting later.  I couldn't believe that in my haste to get on the road early in order to capture the early morning light, that I forgot my camera and had to use my cell phone.  

Art Group Reunited

It was a perfect crisp, fall, day when the Art Buddies met in NW Portland to sketch and paint on the go. The rain will soon be here, so we definitely jumped at the chance to paint outdoors. 

Portland has some great architectural details and as we tried to artfully capture them, we freaked out a lot of people.  I guess we must have looked like Census Takers or undercover agents, because we had some anxious strangers coming up to use wanting to know what we were up to.  One man who was putting up twinkle lights and overparked, sheepishly announced he was leaving in a minute, had a good laugh when my friend turned around her sketchbook to reveal that she'd been painting him as he worked. Beware of middle aged women with sketch pads and pencils! 

We never made it past the corner where we started, since there were so many things to sketch in that small area.  From colorful plants to interesting shop windows, we did not lack for material.

We loved a shop called The Polish Pottery Place, on Hoyt, with it's colorful flock of tin chickens, pigs, peacocks and flowers.

This outdoor art was imported from Mexico, and was so colorful and cheery!

JoAnne set up her stool, and got right to work, painting in her colorful style.

Here we all are before heading out for lunch.  Next post I'll show you our finished work.  Note to self, next time bring another film card!  I did have pencil drawing in my book, although you can't see them!

More fun Portland signs.